Licancabur

Location: 22.83° S, 67.88° W

Elevation: 5.916 m

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The symmetrical Licancabur stratovolcano was constructed primarily during the Holocene and contains one of the world's highest lakes in its 400-m-wide summit crater. The Pleistocene Juriques volcano is located immediately to the SE and is capped by a 1.5-km-wide summit crater. Archaeological ruins were found on the 5916-m-high crater rim of the steep-sided Volcán Licancabur, which maintains constant 30 degree slopes. The shallow freshwater summit lake is 90 m by 70 m wide and has a measured temperature of 6 degrees C, supporting growth of planktonic fauna at nearly 6000 m altitude. Young blocky andesitic lava flows with prominent levees extend up to 6 km down the NW-to-SW flanks; older flows reach up to 15 km from the summit crater and are covered by pyroclastic-flow deposits that extend 12 km. The most recent activity from Licancabur produced flank lava flows. (Global Volcanism Programm)

     Photos: Rolf Cosar                                                                                                                                                             September 1997  

HOMEPAGE